Re: Digest Number 3470

> ______________________________________________________________________ 
> __
> 1f. Re: Neat summary of Google strategy
>     Posted by: "Marion Gropen" [email protected] mgropen
>
> It's not tacit at all: it's case law. The copy required for indexing
> and making things available for searching is fair use.
>
> BUT copies for non-commercial personal use? May well NOT be fair use,
> depending on the specifics.
>
> And many of the things that people think are non-commercial personal
> use aren't, if you get into a courtroom.

I'm skeptical.

I believe most of the things that people _argue_ about... things that  
people "think are non-commercial personal use..." never get into a  
courtroom.

No publisher in their right mind would bring it to court. There isn't  
enough money involved. It's very much in their interest to have a  
climate of fear, uncertainty and doubt in which nobody knows what's  
legal and what isn't. It's not to their interest to have it  
clarified; it's a high-risk tactic because they have so much to lose  
if things get clarified the wrong way.

And that cuts both ways. Originally the RIAA had great success with  
their bullying and intimidation tactics. But now that their bluff is  
being called and these cases are actually starting to come to court,  
it appears that many of the things that people at the RIAA think are  
"unauthorized copies" are, in fact, non-commercial personal use.

Nobody knows what the law is. In a very real sense, there isn't any  
law yet. Things are going to proceed the way they have been many  
times before. OMG, people are playing phonograph records over the  
radio! There will be years of legal wrangling, and eventually things  
will settle down to some reasonable compromise that allows the public  
to listen to phonograph records being played over the radio for free.  
And to push the "record" button on their cassette-recorder-boom box  
when they hear something they like... without getting sued for $3000.  
While the record publishers get paid... much much less than they want  
but much much more than zero.





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